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Research reveals potential key to transmission and virulence of new H7N9 influenza

New article published in Microbes and Infection

The recently emerged H7N9 influenza virus may gain its ability to transmit from bird to human, increased virulence, and drug-resistance by mutating key amino acids to make structural changes in its proteins, according to a new study published in Microbes and Infection.

In March, the first case of the current avian flu outbreak was confirmed in China. Since then, there have been 132 confirmed cases, including 37 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Several influenza pandemics have occurred in the past century, including the 1918 Spanish Flu (H1N1), the pandemics of 1957 (H2N2) and 1968 (H3N2), and the swine flu pandemic of 2009 (H1N1). In Hong Kong in 1997 there was an outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1), which has since infected 622 people and killed 371 of those infected, mainly through bird-to-human transmission.

In the new study, the researchers analyzed the virus causing the current outbreak in China.

“We compared the available protein sequences of the four A(H7N9) strains isolated from the patients with severe pneumonia with the corresponding protein sequences of the human, avian, and swine IAVs and those causing past influenza outbreaks or pandemics. The protein sequences with mutations of critical signature amino acids or in essential functional domains were further analyzed by sequence alignment.”

The genome of the H7N9 virus is similar to that of the 1997 and 2009 strains, but not to those viruses that caused pandemics before 1980.

The research reveals that the H7N9 virus, which originated in birds, gets its ability to transmit from bird to human by modifying some critical signature amino acids in its key proteins. These modifications may be associated with the increased virulence and drug resistance of the virus.

The authors of the paper urge health professionals to monitor the evolution of the virus and to develop strategies to combat any potential epidemic or pandemic.

“Although there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission of A(H7N9) so far, it is essential to conduct strict monitoring of this new virus as it evolves in humans and animals. Rapid development of strategies to combat the potential epidemic or pandemic is urgently needed.”